Opening weekend results for Thor: Ragnarok are out and living up to the hype for Kiwi Director Taika Waititi, with the film taking more than $2.2m at the New Zealand box office to date.

Thor: Ragnarok also delivered the biggest local opening weekend of 2017 – of all the countries in the world to open Thor: Ragnarok so far, New Zealand is the only country to achieve this.

The third instalment of the Thor franchise is also Taika Waititi’s biggest opening day and weekend across all of his films including Hunt for the Wilderpeople, also beating the opening weekend for both previous Thor titles.

Reviewers and audiences alike are loving the new approach to Thor with its distinct Kiwi humour.

Waititi has publically stated he wanted to include a nod to the New Zealand psyche and has highlighted this in his own appearance as Korg in the film, where he keeps his New Zealand accent and cultural in jokes.

Thor: Ragnarok New Zealand statistics to date:

Highest October opening weekend of all time

Highest opening weekend of 2017

7th highest opening weekend ever from The Walt Disney Studios

ABOUT THE FILM:

In Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok, Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok—the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization—at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger—the Incredible Hulk!

Thor: Ragnarok is directed by Taika Waititi and returns Chris Hemsworth starring as Thor and Tom Hiddleston reprising his role as Loki. They are joined by Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson and Karl Urban, with Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Hopkins.